This invention may be described as a screw setter device, which can be connected to an electric drill or screwdriver at a first end and to a screw or other fastener at a second end to provide for a screw securing system that holds a screw in place during installation and does not release from the screw until completely installed.
Devices used for the installation of screws into wood and other materials typically have a tip that is designed to engage the head of a screw and secure it to a screw driver or other driving tool to allow the screw to be rotated. These tips are of specific designs such as phillips, flat, torx, square and clutch and are sized to match the design of the screw head and can be found on screwdrivers and drill tips. Ordinarily when installing screws, a pilot hole needs to be drilled first before the screw is installed to facilitate easier installation of screws. Self-starting screws, such as deck screws, can be installed without drilling a pilot hole, but the friction created by the screw threads burrowing into the wood is so great that it is impossible to install the screws by hand and can be challenging when installed with an electric drill or screwdriver. Typically, the rotational force exerted by the drill is great enough to drive the screws into the wood material but the connection between the driving tip and the screw head is easily overcome by the torque of the drill and the resistence of the screw to turn, causing the driving tip to jump out of the screw head. This causes either the screw head or the driving tip to round out, destroying the engaging surfaces. The prior art devices do not provide for a screw setter tool that securely engages a screw head to allow for the installation of screws without pre-drilling a pilot hole.
This invention may be described as a screw setter device that is designed to engage the outer surface of the head of a screw to secure the driving tip in driving engagement with the screw and to thereby prevent the driving tip from jumping out of the screw slot during installation. The screw setter device includes a shank, a collet, prongs, a sleeve, an adjustable collar, and a driving tip. The shank is installed into an electric drill, screwdriver or ratchet and is connected to the driving tip and the prongs. The driving tip is connected to the shank and is oriented between the prongs. The driving tip can be of numerous shapes to fit the head of the screw including phillips, flat, square, torx and clutch. Other driving tips of varying styles and sizes can be used to adapt to the different screw heads. The prongs are part of the collet and surround the driving tip and are designed to engage the outer surface of the screw head to prevent disengagement. The sleeve is positioned around the shank and slidably engages the prongs to enclose them around the head of the screw. The sleeve is designed so that when the screw is completely installed, the contact of the sleeve with the surface into which the screw is installed causes the sleeve to slide rearward releasing the prongs from the screw head. The collar slides over the sleeve and is designed to allow for varying depth release of the screw from the surface of the wood. The screw setter tool allows a user to install screws into wood surfaces or any other surfaces without drilling a pilot hole or applying undue pressure to the back of the drill to maintain the driving tip to screw head engagement.